Da_Meister_22

No regrets at all.

I do agree you should've gone with a 550i, so it was your own fault for not doing so.

As for the rest I cant relate, due to the fact that I don';t like American cars.

CVTBenhogan

no regrets. By far the best car I've had and it still brings a smile to my face. The 550 is a muscle car and almost a sports car. So the next transition is the 911 or m3.

nyceric03

Only regret I have is not getting the v10 soon maybe...

harlem

I have a 530xi and i have no regrets,the car gives me enough power when i need to use it

tuffluck

i guess maybe you didn't read my last post. my budget was less than 30k with a warranty, and the 545/550 did not fall under that stipulation.

also, i have pretty strong proof in my average city commute that the 550i would be getting about 10-12mpg, which again i would not be satisfied with.

for 40k i would have strongly considered a 2006 z06, which i did actually look at. it would probably be getting better mpg than the 550i, too. no warranty, but i am extremely fond of GM engines and their repairs are much less costly than BMW repairs...usually.

cool...i wish you would succumb to the 19mph average that i do, just so we can see what your mpg would be i'd just like to know if any 530i would be getting 15mpg in the conditions i drive in, or if it's just mine. thanks for the info.

Da_Meister_22

My bad I probably did miss that 30K limit. But still, werent you able to get a 535i for around tat price?

Anyways, cant say im a GM fan (except for a 1968 GT 500). But honestly if you take extra care of the cars we have, they will never break on you. Can't say the same for american/japanese build cars, at least with my experience they always found one way or another to break somewhere

Eloise550i

Not my first BMW's, and certainly not my last....... No regrets!

Ohio55

tuffluck, I had an LS1 Z28 about a decade ago, so I had great interest in reading your post. I had a '98 which was the first year they moved from LT1 to LS1. I really enjoyed driving that car, it was alot of fun. I bought it new but sold it after about 2.5 years because it needed repairs all the time. I have owned several cars in between, but now I have an '08 550i and it's the first car since then that I think is as much fun to drive as my Z28 was (except for the t-tops). In a stock comparison, I believe the 550i is every bit as fast as my Z28 was. If I recall correctly, with 315hp and 335 lb/ft of torque, Car and Driver had my Z28 at 0-60 in 5.3 seconds and quarter mile at 13.3 seconds. Motortrend has the 550i at 4.8 and 13.4. From my memory and butt-dyno, they feel about the same. And in any case those are really close stats. I understand the LS1 is easier and cheaper to mod, but I am talking stock comparison. I'm surprised at your fuel economy because I get 19-20 mgp in my 550i with about 25% highway driving. I understand your budget considerations, so a 550 was not an option, but I think it does compare well to the Z from a performance perspective. And driving it is a blast I feel like a teenager again.

tuffluck

all the 535i's around this area are as expensive or more than the 550i.

i do share your same sentiments about the Z. they made some exhaust changes in 2000, so i think the 2000+ was a bit faster. mine dyno'd equivalent of 360/370 hp/tq to the flywheel, plus 500lbs lighter than a 550, so when i test drove the 550i there was a considerable difference in the butt-dyno. i had a manual and could easily chirp into third gear @ 70mph, and driving halfway through second gear my car was mostly sideways. cannot do that in the 550i at all...

not doubting the 550 is a fun car. maybe you guys get great mileage in your 550i, but i do not get good mileage in my 530i no matter how i drive it, and that is that. you have to also remember in my first post i stated that i could not drive the Z as fast as i wanted, so the 530i is ample on an acceleration basis for me. but, for the equivalent MPG, i ask myself why i sacrificed the power on any car whether that be BMW, GM, etc... so, this isn't and never was intended as a 530i vs 550i thread, although that seems to be what it has turned into somehow.

FWIW, i averaged 29 MPG on a highway trip over the holidays, and it is rated at 30 MPG. i don't think anything is wrong with my car, it just gets shit for city MPG.

ron_cb550

I've had my 550i for a year now (it'll be exactly 1 year on Monday) and I'm extremely satisfied and proud of the decision I made.. but I'm not going to lie, since GM's last big push, I have been eye'ing the CTSV.. the pricepoint is dead-on and-- not to discredit BMW's fine engineering (both mechanical and social)-- I think it could effectively replace my 550i, aka my house-to-office/office-to-office saloon.